The Bluejay: Trapped
by BluejayDistrict12
Summary: 14 year old Matthias Love lives in District 12. 19 years after the Rebels failed to overthrow the capitol, it is now the 96th Hunger Games. When his best friend is chosen for the games, he has no choice but to volunteer to go in with her. During his journey into the games he will become the new face of the rebellion. Matthias becomes the symbol of hope, the Bluejay
1. Chapter 1

**The Bluejay**

 _Trapped_

For Matthias

Part 1

 _ **Memories**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _I'm trapped._ I can't escape the darkness that is in my presence. It is so thick, if I had my knife, I'm sure I could slice right through it. I can feel myself becoming numb under the weight of the unyielding, dark fog, but just as I feel as if i'm about to slip away, my eyes flick open and I can see the sun beams through the dust in my bedroom. It's not exactly _my_ bedroom, it is my best friend Lydia's.

I have been living with her ever since the horrible bombing that the capitol attacked us with to make sure that we didn't even think about harboring another Katniss Everdeen. Katniss was the face of the rebellion 19 years ago, all that I know is that the rebels failed, and Katniss was never seen again. Her and the rebels fought to end the horrific Hunger Games, which were even more terrible than what i've heard of the ones before Katniss.

I was born 5 years after the rebels were defeated, making me 14. A poor, 14 year old orphan in district 12. The capitol bombed us again only a few years ago as a reminder to never, ever, think of having a rebellion again. My parents didn't make it. Ever since i've lived with Lydia. I stand up and dress myself in a green and blue striped shirt, rare colors for a district 12 dweller, which automatically makes them my favorite.

I look into the one mirror in the house and tidy up my curly short black hair, staring into my deep brown eyes while doing it. The light leaking through the window and reflecting off the dust makes my light chocolate colored skin seem to glow beautifully. I've never exactly felt like I fit in with my dark skin in district 12, not many people have it, but nobody treats me any different. A lot of people actually admire it.

"Matthias Love, get down here for breakfast!" I hear Lydia's mother yell from downstairs "We do not want to be late to the reaping!". That's right, the reaping for the 96th Hunger Games. I actually do want to be late for the reaping, or miss it entirely for that matter, all I can imagine is the announcer woman drawing a slip and saying _Matthias Rose._ Love is not my birth last name, but when Lydia's family adopted me they thought that changing my last name to theirs would be appropriate, and I agree. No use carrying a family name when you are the only one left holding on to it.

The smell of fresh roots and meat stew wafts into the room, and then into my nose, making my mouth water. I run down the stairs after I put on my handmade deerskin shoes. My father took me bow hunting when I was young, he always would say that after what we've been through, a little hunting couldn't hurt too much. Plus it puts food on the table. Once I reach the kitchen, which is really just a small part of the living room that has a stove, Lydia and her mom are already halfway done with their delicious meal.

I sit down and can't help but notice how beautifully Lydia's long, curly red hair is. Is it in a bun? I don't know, I never really learned the names for hairstyles, I don't care much for them anyway. It is up high on her head, and appears to be a braid wrapped around itself to make a circular ball on her head. White flowers that look much like daisy's, but aren't, are woven into her hair. Her pale white skin reflects the sun, and it is almost so bright that I have to look away.

Lydia's mom must notice me watching her, because she suddenly speaks up "The reaping is today and you slept in almost an hour!" she says. "You better hurry and chug down your stew, it's been sitting a while anyway."

I do as I am told and chug the stew as fast as I can manage, almost making me gag. Lydia stifles a laugh, but her mom is visibly upset. She never liked that I took things too literally all the time. "Welp, looks like i'm ready now." Lydia gasps, whips her head away from my direction, and begins to laugh fairly hard. Her mother looks embarrassed, as if something has just caught her attention. "What?"

"If you're so ready why aren't you wearing pants?" Lydia says, though it's hard to understand her because she's laughing so hard. I look down and sure enough, I am wearing nothing below my shirt, basically i'm naked.

I quickly run upstairs, not understanding how I and they both didn't realize that I was nude, then I remember that this is what? The twenty-seventh time I've done this since I've lived here. In my defence, I'm still a little disoriented from my parents escape, as I sometimes call it.

I slide clothes over the lower half of my body, and return downstairs to find that I'm just in time to leave for the reaping. _At least I cheered Lydia up for the day_.

The reaping is basically where they choose the names of two victims, excuse me, _tributes_ , to represent their district in the Hunger Games, which is basically a gigantic deathmatch, where there can only be one victor. Bassically the reaping is a random death lottery. It is supposed to be a reminder of the rebels waging war, now twice, on the capitol, but really it is just a sick way to show that the capitol is under control.

I am quickly separated from Lydia and stand in line with the boys. I realize that I am in much better shape than most of them, mainly because I push myself everyday in case I did have to enter the terrible, bloody, games. I have a much better chance at winning than any of them.

A strangely colored woman with an obvious wig pricks my finger for DNA identification or something like that.

I am shuffled into the crowd, and through the sad slums of district 12 it's easy to spot Lydia with her noticeable red hair. I make my way to her and hold her hand. She grips on tight. I know it's out of fear, because I am doing the same.

Too quickly does the completely unnatural woman who chooses the names from the reaping ball step forward. Her very bright, almost metallic light purple hair, powdered white face, and matching metallic purple clothes make her look almost like a porcelain doll.

She steps forward to the microphone and says the dreaded words "Welcome, to the 96th annual Hunger Games!" I can just feel the excitement in the air with every word she speaks. Wait, no I can't. Everybody is too busy moping around to listen, and even if they were, nobody gets excited about the games. Except maybe the capital.

She takes a deep breath and begins again. "As you know, today I will be choosing two tributes to honor District 12 in the Hunger Games. As always with the reaping, ladies first!" she says, a little too cheerfully.

The woman moves toward the female reaping ball, her hand swoops around the ball for what feels like an eternity, when she finally plunges her hand deep inside and pulls out a single card. "Lydia Love."

 _No, that's not what she said right?_ But I look over, and I realize that Lydia has slowly began walking towards the stage. I stare in disbelief, and the world seems to crumble beneath my feet. As hard as it is to admit, I know Lydia will not survive alone in those games. She is the strongest woman I know, especially after we trained together, but I know it is not enough.

Suddenly I know what I must do. I have to be in the games with Lydia. Our skills combined, and nobody could stop us. As the woman reaches into the ball with all of the male names inside, I gather the courage and quickly make a decision.

She pulls out a card and begins reading. "James…"

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" Good, I cut her off before she could read James's card. She looks happily at me, and also I see some surprise in her eyes. Perhaps it's because this is the first time in about 21 years somebody has volunteered in District 12.

I begin to walk towards the stage, leaving Lydia's mother with tear filled eyes and her mouth gaping. _I have nobody left to come home to, but Lydia does._ I decide right then that I will pay my life to the Hunger Games in order to bring Lydia back home as a victor.

Once I reach the stage I see that Lydia is crying, I don't know if it is because she is up on stage or because I am now standing up there with her.

"There we have it," the odd capitol lady continues "District 12's very own tributes!"

I stare into the crowd for what seems like an eternity. Even after the capitol woman calls for applause, nobody even blinks. They all just stare, especially Lydia's mother.

"And may the odds be ever, in your favor!" The woman says. I almost puke.

The capitol no longer allows good-byes to family members, which I would say is inhumane, but compared to the actual games, it is only a minor inconvenience.

Lydia quickly screams goodbye to her mother anyway, which makes the peacekeepers angry, it seems, because they begin dragging us both away.

The peacekeepers used to wear white, to symbolise peace I guess. However now they wear intimidating shades of blacks and reds, and the latest technology of the capitol makes them completely, well, everything proof as I would describe it. A bullet bounces straight off without a problem, so I don't think one of my punches would be enough to take them down.

The peacekeepers take us inside the justice building, separating us into two rooms. Even though we aren't allowed to say goodbye, our family members can give us a token to represent our district. Since I have no family, and they won't let Lydia's mother give me a token, I just sit and wait.

About ten minutes pass before I hear a bird outside of the window. I turn towards the partially cracked open window, and see a single bluejay. Bluejays have always been my favorite bird, besides blue being one of my favorite colors, they fill the space that mockingjays no longer held.

Mockingjays were genetically modified mockingbirds, a least that's what i've been taught at school. When they were everywhere in the forest, I would whistle a couple notes, and they would whistle back.

Since Katniss Everdeen was the Mockingjay, when I was five the Capitol decided to exterminate them all, I do not know if any of them are alive anywhere anymore.

Suddenly, the bluejay flies away, leaving a single feather trapped in the windowsill. I walk over and pick it up. If I can't receive a token, I will choose this feather as my token anyway.

A few minutes later, the peace keepers return, and drag me into a train car with Lydia.

"Do you think that this train is heading towards the capitol?" Lydia asks me.

"No, it is taking us straight to the moon." I say that with a little too much sarcasm. Lydia looks a bit offended by my tone for a second, but then she gets a look of understanding, understanding that this has already been an extremely stressful day. She pulls the braid out of her bun, and removes the flowers that dance in her braid.

"Why did you volunteer?" Lydia asks angrily, yet also sad.

"I couldn't leave you behind." I say

Lydia looks at me, with huge, tear filled eyes and says "You might have to in a few days."

I am about to tell her that if anybody is going to be left behind it's me, but I can't because a woman enters our train car.

"Hello, I am Mist." she says. Her name suits her very well, she is young, yet she has silver hair, not the kind of grey hair on older people, but reflective. Her eyes are a very light hazel color, almost so bright that you have to be right in front of her to tell that there is even color at all. I feel like I have met her before.

"I am going to be your mentor for the games." she says.

That's how I know her, she won the Hunger Games for District 12 only 7 years ago, she was 17 when she won, making her 24 now. She won the games by her great use of her mind. She received a silver parachute from a sponsor, and after she had taken the supplies from it, she filled it with poisonous nightlock berries.

She would then climb trees and wait for other tributes to walk past her, and drop the parachute. Thinking it was a sponsor, the tribute would eat the berries, and die.

At first glance she looks calm and peaceful, but after a longer look I can see that there is a burning intensity in her eyes, soon I realize, though, that behind the flame is a river of sadness, stretching as far back as when she first entered the games.

"You are going to train us?" Lydia says.

Mist smiles, and she says "I'm going to do more than that, I am going to turn you both into victors."

I look at her, confusion sprouting in my mind. "You do know that there can be only one victor, right?"

Mist winks at me, and says "Oh, you do know that's not true right?"

She must notice my look of pure confusion, because she continues "Two tributes from the same district can both win under certain circumstances." She's right, in a way, because Katniss won with another victor, but since she did that i'm positive the capitol won't let it happen again. But Mist seems to believe her words, so I don't question it anymore.

Mist goes on to explain how we need to make allies, and how to find other tributes weaknesses, and how to choose the best fitting weapon. Lydia decides that she would be best with throwing knives, or kunais even. I tell Mist that I have never missed a shot with bow and arrow, and she tells me that besides poison, bow is her weapon of choice.

We continue talking about the games until I am too tired to go on. I walk into the room of the train car that is supposed to be mine, and lie down. Lydia walks in and lies next to me.

"Would you mind if we shared this bed tonight?" she asks. Since Lydia and I think of each other more as siblings than lovers, I realize she just wants to spend the night together, one of our last nights before the games.

We curl up in eachothers arms, and eventually sleep wraps its arms around us both, and we drift away into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

 _I awake screaming,_ Lydia also wakes up, probably more from my loud shriek than her own personal nightmares. I dreamt that I was in the games, the career tributes, or the tributes from district 1 and 2. They catch up to me, and before I know it my insides are now my outsides, so to speak.

Lydia tries to comfort me, but I brush her off and instead ask her if she had any nightmares. She brushes her curly red hair from her face and the floodgates are opened.

"In my dream, we were in the games, except we were the last two tributes alive." she says "I knew that I couldn't kill you, but you had no trouble killing me."

I look into her light blue eyes, they could almost be grey, they used to be a much darker blue. Almost as if the color has been drained right out of them, they are still really nice though.

"You know that I volunteered just so that I could bring you home." I told her matter of factly. She looks into my eyes again, and suddenly I see something different. Under her cover of weakness and crying, she is truly a very strong girl. I've only seen the real part of her when we were training, because her mom wanted her to be more "lady like", also known as no fun allowed.

"I don't plan on dying, Matthias." she says. There's a pause, and I almost take it that she wants me dead, until she continues "And you are going to be riding home on the train with me."

I want so bad to believe her, to not worry because I knew we would both return home, but I can't. I know that most likely neither of us will be riding home in the victors train.

I don't voice these words, I only awkwardly stare at Lydia's nose as I am daydreaming. She gets up and opens the curtain on the window. She gasps and I look out, there are beautiful pink trees with small red fruits on them, which I assume are cherries.

"We must be near the edge between District 1 and the Capitol." Lydia says, without taking her eyes off the stunning trees. I think she is right, we've been told district 1 made luxury goods, I guess pink cherry trees are one of those luxuries?

"We will be in the tribute center soon, then we will be separated again." Lydia says as if she's been here before.

"How do you know?" I say

"Mist told me last night before I went to bed, she said we will meet our stylists too," she says "she said we will be dressed up for our chariot ride under President Griffin."

President Griffin. He's the successor to President Snow. He is twice as young and twice as evil. Snow died the same year Mist won the games, and he took office. He is in his mid to late 30s, with sharp black hair. He was the one that authorized the bombing on 12, the same one that killed my parents a few years ago. I hate him with a passion.

Lydia and I walk out of the room groggily, the clock says it is eight o'clock, but it's actually 6 due to the distance between us and the capitol. Mist is already eating breakfast when she turns and looks at us.

"Ah, good morning guys." Mist says "We've got a lot to discuss before you are taken away by the stylists."

Taken away. For some reason that phrase gives me chills, even though I know I will see Lydia again.

Mist suddenly takes on an intense stare, and I know that she is ready to give us some serious advice.

"When you meet the stylists, don't resist what they do to you, if you do, they will give you a bad outfit." Mist says "Sounds dumb, but if you want sponsors you need to… surprise people."

Oh i'll surprise people, that's for sure. Mist continues to explain strategies for surviving, and what to do if the arena is a desert, rainforest, and such. I get bored quite fast, but Lydia is sucking up the info like a sponge. Not wanting Mist to only like Lydia, I also try to listen to every single word.

I tune my ears and listen to Mist,

"Remember, if there are trackerjack…" Darn, it's too boring to listen to anymore.

I zone out the rest of the 20 minutes it takes to get to the tribute center. There are peacekeepers everywhere. Guess they got to keep the tributes from rebelling or something. Lydia and I give each other a nod, and we are led away into the tribute center. I wave good-bye to Mist, and she smiles what I think is a fake smile.

I am let into a room with three women in it. They make me very uncomfortable by asking me strange questions, then they ask me to undress so they can "examine my body". Pretty sure that's illegal to do to people under 18, but I remember what Mist said, and I comply. They awkwardly scan my body, making me shiver uncomfortably.

"What a nice specimen we have here…" I hear one of them whisper. Now I am so uncomfortable that I want to run out of the room.

Before I make my great escape, they tell me to sit tight and that my stylist will be right in. They leave and I just stand there, naked and creeped out at why so many people need to see me like this. Suddenly a woman walks in, she is so much different from the regulars of the capitol. Her hair is still an unnatural shade of purple, but it looks better than most of the capitol people. It is obvious her favorite color is dark purple, because everything she is wearing is that color, including her eye shadow. I think that's what it is called anyway.

What's different, though, is that she looks relatively normal. She is wearing a dark purple sweatshirt, and dark purple jeans. Her shoes are actually sneakers, not what I'd expect anybody in the Capitol to wear.

"Hello, I'm Carry, your stylist." she says.

I realize that I am probably going to be covered in coal dust or something, like every other tribute from District 12.

Carry seems to read my mind as she says "Don't worry, I'm not going to cover you in coal, I wanted to do something else that represents your district other than coal," Carry says, "something like a flower from your district, or maybe an animal, like a bird."

I see the feather that I took from home, and I remember that bluejays are almost exclusive to the woods of district 12. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out "A bluejay."

Carry looks at me as if I had just cured all diseases in Panem and she says "That's perfect!"

I sit for an hour, still naked, waiting for Carry to return. When she does, I notice that she is holding a blue, white, and black suit.

"Here, custom made for you." Carry says as she hands me the suit.

I put it on and turn towards the mirror. The suit makes me look as if I am a Bluejay, even better, when I raise my arms wings rise as well. The suit is stunning.

Carry breaks through my thoughts "Sorry I took so long, I had to create a suit for Lydia too; except hers is red, matching her personality, and hair." Carry explains.

I smile at her, and she smiles back at me. I am shuffled out to my chariot, which is the last one, since I am in district 12. I meet Lydia and her suit looks identical to mine, except it is a light red color, and it is more fitted for a woman's body. Carry knows what she is doing.

We see Mist again, she is talking to another victor from a previous year. I call her over to us and I ask her if she has any last minute advice.

"Just smile, and act like you know that you are going to be the victors, because you are!" Mist says, so cheerfully that it sounds forced.

A bell rings, signaling that Lydia and I have to get into the chariot.

"Matthias," Lydia looks over at me and says "let's eat the tributes children!"

I look at her, trying not to laugh at whatever she just said, when she starts laughing.

"I mean let's destroy them." Lydia says seriously.

As soon as our chariot reaches the light, all eyes are on us. Lydia and I grab each others hand, and we raise our arms to show the crowd our wings. Everybody is going nuts, it's amazing. People in the crowd are throwing their hats at us, which I assume to be a good sign, and we reach the end, where President Griffin is waiting at the balcony of a very tall building.

"Well, well, looks like we have some _very_ impressive tributes this year." Griffin says coolly, putting a lot of emphasis on the word _very._

"To commemorate this year's Hunger Games, we will be having a feast with the tributes after their interviews." He says, but I can tell it wasn't his Idea. The person that told him we should do that is probably dead now. Or dying as we speak. He only sees us as part of his control over people. Expendable maggots waiting to be squashed under his power.

He continues on, talking about why the games exist, and why tributes must be chosen from each district, blah blah blah. I had zoned out a long time ago, only focusing on the colors of mine and Lydia's suits. I can't help but think about why it was us here. Well it was me because I volunteered, but Lydia had never put her name in the tesserae, which is adding your name a second time to the reaping ball in exchange for food. She had only one card in the ball.

I look at Lydia again and I can't help but think that, in these games, even having the best possible odds can get you killed.


End file.
